In the UK we’ve faced a wet summer, whilst we’ve been told Europe burns. Are we being told the truth? Are these problems man-made or due to climate change? If climate change, what if anything should we do about it?
We asked our contributors for their views.
Tony Brown, Libertarian Party UK candidate for Mayor of London
“There almost certainly has been some recent warming as we emerge from the Little Ice Age of the 13th-19th centuries which followed the Medieval warm period”
To say Europe burnt this summer is the worst form of hyperbole. I spent my entire summer in Europe, England and Belgium to be precise and I assure you neither burnt nor were particularly wet: both experienced perfectly ‘normal’ summer weather. And that illustrates the problem of absurd, wild comments from people one is supposed to respect claiming global boiling or similar nonsense (I use the word literally and accurately.)
Both the weather day-to-day and climate millenia by millenia constantly change. There almost certainly has been some recent warming as we emerge from the Little Ice Age of the 13th-19th centuries which followed the Medieval warm period which saw wine cultivation as far north as Northumberland (still not yet possible today). It is impossible to judge the human contribution to all this and even the most sophisticated climate modelling is still far too simple accurately to understand the vastly complex interactions involved.
So, no we are not being told the truth because the truth is not known and perhaps not knowable at this stage. (though in time AI and quantum computing might help.)
“we are subject to a barrage of unscientific scare-mongering by people who really ought to know better. And it is certainly not justified to trash our standard of living”
Instead, we are subject to a barrage of unscientific scare-mongering by people who really ought to know better. And it is certainly not justified to trash our standard of living and force us to replace low-cost, proven technology such as gas boilers and petrol cars with more expensive, less efficient alternatives such as heat pumps and EVs with all their problems of charge, range and weight.
Neither should we ignore it all. We should be pursuing a strategy of progressive adaptation based on first, proven technology which works; secondly, full life-cycle costing from raw material extraction to final scrapping and recycling; thirdly, efficiency as indicated by market pricing (which is why pricing is useful and essential); and, fourthly acknowledge that much of the world is not a nice place: countries such as Russia, China and even India are very happy to manipulate our gullible good nature to damage us and give themselves economic and competitive advantage at our expense whilst making promises they have no intention of keeping!
To quote Ford Prefect ‘Don’t Panic’. Apply our minds instead and the result will be a much better outcome for all of us!
You can find out more about Tony’s campaign at https://www.libertarianpartyuk.com/
Spanish political scientist, Lorena Serantes
“I know temperatures are raising, at least here in Spain, and we’ve been having severe draughts in the last 2 years”
Unfortunately, I’m not an expert on climate change and environmental issues, I know temperatures are raising, at least here in Spain, and we’ve been having severe draughts in the last 2 years. My view is Southern Europe is at risk due to high temperatures, because wildfires are becoming more common year after year, and it’s scary. I wish I knew more about these issues but there’s too much information and too little time to check it out. It’s a complicated matter.
Lorena blogs on British Politics at https://serantesprietolorena.blogspot.com/
Martin Hartmann, President of the Libertarian Party Switzerland
“There are many more and more important factors affecting global climate than humankind. We should focus on innovation and change
The climate crisis is a hoax. It’s being hyped by the green leftist journalists in the mainstream media. There are many more and more important factors affecting global climate than humankind. We should focus on innovation and change – the only constant.
The Libertarian Party in Switzerland can be found online, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram.
